The men’s tennis team won their second straight CUNYAC Championship and seventh in the past nine years by defeating the College of Staten Island, 5-1, on Thursday afternoon at the U.S. National Tennis Center in Queens.   

The Bearcats earn CUNYAC’s berth to the NCAA Tournament, which will begin nationally on Friday, May 10. The field of teams, schedules, and locations will be announced on Monday, May 6, at 7:00 pm via NCAA.com.

The Bearcats earned the hard fought victory by winning all three doubles, but they had a tough battle at first doubles with Danil Ovechkin and Guy Goren winning in tie-break, 8-6. The Bearcats actually trailed 6-4 in the tie-break, but earned the last four points to sweep the doubles.

With the comfort of a 3-0 lead, the Bearcats needed to win only two of the six singles and they accomplished that with victories by Samuel Hajibai at sixth singles, 6-2, 6-3 and Joe Laskowski at fifth singles, 6-2, 6-1. Laskowski clinched the fifth point that halted the match to celebrate the victory.

Laskowski was named the CUNYAC Championship MVP for an outstanding and undefeated performance throughout the tournament.

For a complete list of individual results, please read below.

ORDER OF FINISH: Doubles 2,3,1; Singles 6,2,5

Doubles Competition (Baruch 3-0)

1. Danil Ovechkin/Guy Goren (B) def. Nicholas Zikos/Timur Shamuradov (C) 9-8 (8-6)

2. Artem Gorbachevskiy/Joe Laskowski (B) def. Daniel Ursomanno/Austin Kapetanakis (C) 8-4

3. Philip Bleustein/David Garzon (B) def. Hector Molina/Ed Ruffe (C) 8-6

Singles Competition (Baruch 2-1)

1. Danil Ovechkin (B) vs. Nicholas Zikos (C) 3-6, 5-4, unfinished

2. Timur Shamuradov (C) def. Artem Gorbachevskiy (B) 6-2, 6-4

3. Guy Goren (B) vs. Hector Molina (C) 7-5, 5-3, unfinished

4. Philip Bleustein (B) vs. Daniel Ursomanno (C) 4-6, 3-4, unfinished

5. Joe Laskowski (B) def. Kolachuk Chuenpratum (C) 6-2, 6-1

6. Samuel Hajibai (B) def. Ed Ruffe (C) 6-2, 6-3

Quarterfinals, Friday, April 26th @Higher Seeds
#1 Baruch defeats #8 Brooklyn, 5-0
#2 Staten Island defeats #7 Lehman, 5-0
#3 John Jay defeats #6 CCNY, 5-0
#4 Hunter defeats #5 York, 5-1
 
Semifinals, Sunday, April 28th @U.S. National Tennis Center
#1 Baruch defeats #4 Hunter, 5-1
#2 Staten Island defeats #3 John Jay, 5-2
 
Championship, Thursday, May 2nd @U.S. National Tennis Center
#1 Baruch defeats #2 Staten Island, 5-1